Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, again I reject and obviously disagree with that proposition. Every single person on our side of the parliament is motivated by one thing and one thing only, and that is to do the right thing by the Australian people. We are focused on providing good government, having inherited a weakening economy, rising unemployment and a rapidly deteriorating budget position from Labor. Having inherited an absolutely disastrous and deteriorating budget position, we've worked hard over the last five years to ensure that today the economy is stronger, employment growth is stronger, the unemployment rate is well below where it was anticipated it would be and indeed the budget position is stronger and improving to the point where we can now pay to help ensure patients across Australia can access affordable, high-quality medicines.

That's something that Labor had stopped being able to afford because the then Treasurer and the then finance minister made such a mess of the budget that, in the 11 weeks from Labor's last budget to the 2013 election, guess what happened to the budget bottom line? There was a $33 billion deterioration in the budget bottom line in 11 weeks—$3 billion a week! Guess what happened in 2017-18? The budget position improved by $19.3 billion compared to budget. On the basis of what? On the basis of stronger economic growth, on the basis of stronger employment growth and on the basis of more Australians paying personal income tax because they got a job. Under our strengthening economy, there were fewer Australians claiming welfare, because they got a job under our economic plan for a stronger economy and more jobs. We'll put our economic and fiscal performance up against yours any day.